You Didn't Cry
by AK-tutti
Summary: All Sharpay wanted was her princess fairytale wedding, but when her prince doesn't cry at their wedding, she freaks out and runs off. 5 years later, when they meet at their high school reunion, she owes him an explanation. Troypay


**You Didn't Cry**

Everything was set, and it was supposed to be the greatest day of their life. Everything was perfect for the day, the beautiful white lillies were in the right place, every bridesmaid dress fit its owner perfectly, and Sharpay's dress was so gorgeous and princess like, that everytime her best friend, Gabriella Montez, stuck her head into the room to help Sharpay, she burst into tears. The blonde had also let herself be told, that everything was as it should be with the groom, the tuxes, the best men, the rings, the everything. Everything was the way it was supposed to be, nothing could go wrong.

Sharpay was overly excited to walk down the aisle and get married to the love of her life, Troy Bolton. She couldn't wait to read her vows to him, and she couldn't wait to hear his. She also couldn't wait untill, they'd finally said their 'I Do's', and they'd share their first kiss as man and wife. She was so excited, that nothing could ruin this great day for her, not even the worst possible news.

She didn't even let it bother her, that her own brother, Ryan, didn't support them getting married or their relationship for that matter. He said, they were too young to even think about marriage, and you should have more life experience, before you could make a decision like that. She told him to go suck it, because when it's right, you know it's right, and Sharpay knew it. Nevertheless, Ryan had been invited to the wedding, and he had met up, and if he wanted to sit and sulk at her wedding, he could go right ahead, it wouldn't bother her the slightest bit. She was getting married to the man of her dreams.

At the age of 23, Sharpay believed it was the right time to get married. For God's sake, their own parents had married at the age of 18 and had been married for 30 years. It was real love, and when that occurs, you shouldn't question it, you should just go with it, and that was what Sharpay did. She was marrying Troy Bolton, hoping their marriage would be just as succesful as her parents'.

This was her princess fairytale wedding, and she believed that nothing could ruin it. She had thought of every possible way, that this wedding could go wrong, and everytime she had thought up the same thing; she was not gonna let it. She had this disney princess feeling in the pit of her stomach, you know the feeling, where Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel or whoever you wanna pick, have just met the prince, but they fall madly in love anyways, and in some cases they marry right on the spot. It was that kind of disney feeling, she felt when she was with Troy. It was amazing.

Sharpay and Gabriella were getting ready at Sharpay's parent's house, because that was danish tradition, Sharpay's mom being danish. It was also tradition, that the groom was the first one at the church, welcoming all the guests and showing them to their seats, when they arrived, and then it was tradition for the bride to arrive 20 minutes after the wedding was scheduled to begin. In danish weddings you didn't have a maid of honour, so Gabriella was just a regular bridesmaid, along with Taylor and Kelsi, who were to arrive at the church 10 minutes before Gabriella and Sharpay, so that they could walk down the aisle, the minute the two arrived. Then they would wait a good 5 minutes, Gabriella would walk down the aisle, followed by Sharpay. It was also tradition for the groom to have 3 best men, and Troy had picked Chad, Zeke and Jason. Another tradition was, that the toes of the groom's socks would be cut off some time during the wedding party, and some women would paint their men's toes with red nailpolish, just so the guests could have a laugh, when they forcefully cut them off. Sharpay had painted Troy's toe nails.

Why had she chosen to go traditionally danish? Because danish weddings screamed traditions, closeness to the family, and they were way smaller than most american weddings, and to her that was more fairytale wedding like than any huge wedding. That, and danish weddings were funny, you were always sure to get a good laugh. Though, the best thing was still tradition, like everybody were supposed to stand by their chair at the party, untill the bride and groom had taken a seat. And you wrote songs about the couple, based on good, old, classic danish songs, mostly kids songs. It was the best, and she was so happy, that Troy had agreed to do it.

It was also tradition to stay throughout the whole wedding party, because it was after all a family event. The wedding night was when you finally got home, and if you had energy for it, and Troy hadn't been happy to hear that. They had been together for 7 whole years, and in all that time Sharpay had kept her virginity, because she had told him, that she was saving herself for marriage, and he had respected that. He found it hard, though, because he'd had sexual experience, and Sharpay hadn't, so she didn't even know, what she was missing. On the other hand, he felt blessed, that he was gonna be her very first time, it made everything so special.

Sharpay had let some traditions slide, though. For instance, in a danish wedding the bridesmaids were supposed to walk behind the bride, and they weren't supposed to walk down the aisle before her, before she even entered the church for real. The reason was, that they were supposed to hold her train (so it wouldn't get dirty), well Gabriella was supposed to, because she was technically Sharpay's maid of honour, without being her maid of honour. Her and Gabriella found it silly, of course her train was long, it was a princess dress after all, and those had long trains, but Gabriella would feel so embarrassed, being a grown-up woman, holding another grown-up woman's train. Sharpay got her point, so they went another way.

Gabriella helped Sharpay get on her veil, which was rather easy, after it was stuck to the tiara, Sharpay would be wearing. Of course, she would be wearing a tiara, she was Sharpay Evans after all, and since it went perfectly with the way, Gabriella had elegantly done her hair, there really was no doubt. There were some small blue diamonds in the tiara, because the latina had insisted, that Sharpay at least went with something blue, even if the whole 'something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue' wasn't tradition in Denmark.

Coincidentally, she had gotten something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The wedding dress was new and handmade by Sharpay's grandmother on her father's side, the veil was an old family heirloom from her mother's side, it first belonged to her great, great, great grandmother. Then there was the tiara, which was both borrowed and slightly blue, Sharpay's mom had worn it at her wedding. So even if it wasn't tradition, she had still gotten it.

When Sharpay walked over to the mirror in her mom and dad's bedroom, Gabriella burst into tears again. "You look so beautiful!" The latina managed to get out through the tears, as she went to hug her best friend.

"Ugh, tears on my dress, Gabs." Sharpay exclaimed, she couldn't have stains on her wedding dress, especially not on her wedding day. Gabriella quickly let go off her and stepped away from the blonde, apologizing. Sharpay smiled, she could never stay mad at that girl. "It's okay, sweetie. I just want everything to go along perfectly today. I only get one wedding."

"It will be perfect." Gabriella reassured her best friend for like the fifth time, even if Sharpay had checked up on things every 10 minutes, she was still a nervous wreck, wanting the perfect wedding day. If the girl would just listen to her.

"Still, I've thought over in my head, everything that can go wrong, and.. No, no, because I've got a plan." Sharpay rambled in fast tempo, Gabriella almost couldn't keep up, but she put her hands on each of Sharpay's shoulders in a comforting way, because she felt like it was needed. "I'm not gonna let it. I've also thought of a way to fix the things, that can possibly go wrong in this wedding. Test me."

Gabriella didn't really wanna test Sharpay, but she felt it would be best just to humour her. "Uhm, the rings have gone missing?"

"Oh, I don't really care about the rings, we got them for Troy's sake." Sharpay explained to her best friend, who glared at her, looking all confused. She didn't get it at all. "Few people actually wear their wedding rings in Denmark, heck few people even has them, so if they got lost I wouldn't care much."

Sharpay smiled at Gabriella, who was still looking at her, like she was insane. If the rings went missing, she wouldn't care. How was that fixing things? It wasn't really, but the blonde had said, she wouldn't let anything ruin her wedding, and she had thought over every scenario, and she wasn't gonna let anything destroy her happy day, because she could get through anything, that could go wrong. She was sure of it.

Gabriella decided to let go of the subject, and she changed it to something else, still wedding-y. "Okay, you are all set, Shar. And we're are supposed to leave for the church in about 5 minutes, so that's a good thing." She sighed and took in her best friend's appearance once more. "You have never looked more beautiful."

"That's because every bride is beautiful on her wedding day." Sharpay smiled, and then the girls opened their arms and enveloped each other in a tight embrace, squeezing the hell out of each other. Or that's what the girls called it, when they gave each other a caring hug, and that they could do, now that Gabriella had finally taken a break from crying.

When they broke apart, Sharpay was the one in tears and not Gabriella. Thank God for waterproof mascara, eh? She was just so happy, she was marrying the one, and she had her best friend by her side on the big day, things couldn't get any better, and this was gonna be a great day.

They let a comfortable silence wash over them, but when those 5 minutes had past, Gabriella found it was time to break it; "We gotta get going, we got a wedding to crash. Are you ready?"

Sharpay couldn't help but giggle, while nodding her head as to say yes, and then the girls linked hands and went out to her dad's car. He was driving them to church, he was after all giving his daughter away. Sharpay got in the backseat after struggling, it was the only place she could sit in the car with her long train, and she even had trouble with it there. When Sharpay was secure in the backseat, Gabriella closed the door, and then she opened the door to the front, where she got in and sat down next to Sharpay's dad, and then she closed the door behind her. Sharpay's dad started the car, and then they drove off to the church, where Sharpay was getting married.

**-Y-D-C-**

They pulled up into the church's parking lot, and as soon as Sharpay's dad had turned off the engine, Gabriella jumped out of the car to help Sharpay out from the backseat. She ripped open the door, revealing a blonde bride, who was relieved that the car ride was finally over. Sharpay's dad, who had gotten out of the car in a much calmer matter than Gabriella, stood there and watched the two girls with amusement, as the latina grabbed a hold of his daughter's hand, slowly and eagerly (if that was a combination) helping her out of the car, and she made sure the best she could, that Sharpay and the wedding dress didn't get hurt in any way. He had to chuckle at this, because during the whole thing, Gabriella looked more excited than his daughter about this wedding, but he knew that wasn't the case. Sharpay couldn't be more excited.

When Sharpay was safely out of the car, Gabriella slammed the door shut, and Sharpay's father locked it. Now the church was next, and neither of them could get in there fast enough, especially Sharpay. Gabriella was sure, that the girl would've run, hadn't it been for her heels and the fact, that the latina was carrying the train in her arms, so it wouldn't get any unnecessary dirt on it. So it was a slow march up to the church doors, with Sharpay's father walking behind them.

Once they were inside the church, Gabriella let go of Sharpay's train and smoothed it out, so it lay perfectly on the ground. Sharpay gave her a hug as a thanks, while her dad ushered Kelsi down the aisle.

He turned around and looked at Taylor, who gave him a nod, to let him know that she was well aware of, when she was supposed to be walking down the aisle, and he didn't need to push her out into it. Taylor was cool and collected in these kind of situations, and that was just one of the reasons, that Sharpay had chosen her as a bridesmaid.

Now it was time for Taylor to walk down aisle. She looked over her shoulder, before she made her way out there, to give a blonde friend a supportive smile. She saw, that Sharpay stood hand in hand with her best friend, so her support probably wasn't needed, but still... getting married was a huge step, and since she didn't get any support from her own brother, she could always use some support from her friends instead. Taylor faced front, and the church doors were opened for her, allowing her to walk down the aisle, and that's what she did.

Gabriella would be up next, and the wedding was getting closer and closer, it was only a few minutes away now. Gabriella gave her best friend a quick hug and hurried over to the doors, waiting for them to be opened again, so she could follow Kelsi and Taylor's example and walk down the aisle.

The doors were opened, and Gabriella elegantly began her walk down the aisle, and as the doors were closed, Sharpay and her dad linked arms and walked over to stand in Gabriella's old position. It would only be a minute, before the doors opened again for the final walk.

Mr. Evans glanced down at his daughter with a warm smile on his lips, he was so happy for her. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You look so beautiful, Pumpkin." He whispered in her ear, and then he stood up tall again, like the proud father he was.

The doors were pushed open one last time, and as soon as they were, the pianist began to play the wedding march on his organ, this being the cue to every guest in the church to stand up for the bride. They all turned their attention at the opened doors, where Sharpay stood with her father.

It was her turn now, her turn to walk down the aisle. She was the one, they had all been waiting for. She placed one foot in front of the other, and then proceeded that way. It was like, she was in some sort of trance to get to Troy. It was all about getting to Troy, every step she took, she just couldn't wait to be Mrs. Troy Bolton, and nothing could mess that day up.

She looked up at her father's face, still placing one foot in front of the other, very slowly and elegantly, and she could see the happiness in his eyes, the happiness he felt, giving his daughter away to marriage. Then she faced front again, she was there for a reason, and it wasn't to stare at her proud father.

She could dimly see Gabriella in the distance, and wouldn't you know, the girl was in tears again. Sharpay wasn't surprised, the girl had been crying almost all day, just like Sharpay had suspected her to, and it made her feel good. It meant that Gabriella was really and truly happy for her, and that she was overly excited on her best friend's behalf, which caused the tears. And she could see Kelsi and Taylor trying to hold back theirs, they suceeded but it was only barely.

She could also see Zeke and Jason, smiling like they had never smiled before. They had this glimpse in their eyes, the glimpse of a proud father bear, as they stood there with their hands behind their back, Jason standing next to Zeke, and Zeke in the middle of Jason and Chad. Chad, he was also smiling and patting his best friend, Troy on the shoulder. It was a different smile than Zeke and Jason's, and it matched the pat on the shoulder. It was a 'Dude, I can't believe, you're finally marrying the girl of your dreams' kind of smile, and it was a smile of approval as well. He approved of their relationship, he approved of them getting married, which was good.

Then she glanced on her husband to be, and he wore the proudest smile of them all, even prouder than her father's, and his eyes were longing to be married to Sharpay. He couldn't wait to be her husband, to spend the rest of his life with her. He couldn't wait for their first house, their first kid, their first everything together as a married couple. He was finally marrying Sharpay Evans, he was marrying the one.

But then it happened. Sharpay was halfway down aisle, when it said click. She had imagined her wedding day since she was a little girl, and she had planned her wedding after her head, she had planned the perfect wedding. It was supposed to be the perfect wedding, she had it all in her head, and she had thought over every detail countless time, she had thought over everything that could go wrong. She had prepared herself for every possible situation, and she had believed that nothing could ruin her wedding day, at least when she thought it over in her head. But she had never thought over this scenario, and it turned out, it was the only thing, that could ruin her perfect fairytale wedding; Troy at the alter, dry eyed.

She let go of her dad's arm, and as soon as she'd done that, Gabriella knew something was wrong, she could see it in her best friend's panicked eyes as well. She walked towards Sharpay, as quickly as she could in heels and without running (she didn't believe, you should run in a church), but before she was even halfway towards her best friend, Sharpay had turned on her heel and begun running towards the exit. Screw Gabriella's no running in church policy, she began chasing after Sharpay in the same speed, calling out her name every few seconds.

"Sharpay, you get back here, right now!" Gabriella yelled, when they were outside on the gravelly ground of the church driveway, but Sharpay didn't listen, she just kept on going. If only she would have listened, because it was probably just cold feet, and Gabriella believed they could talk it over, and everything would be okay, and it would only be a few minutes, then Sharpay could go back into the church and finally get married to Troy. But it was reality, and in reality Sharpay wouldn't listen to Gabriella.

"Taxi!" Sharpay screamed and held out her arm, as she reached the sidewalk. Normally you could be standing for several minutes, hollering at cabs, before one would finally pull over and take you with them, but not today. Today a taxi stopped immediately, and the driver was polite enough to rush out of the car and quickly help Sharpay into the backseat with her dress. Then he hurried back into the car himself, and Gabriella had just reached the sidewalk herself, when she heard Sharpay shout; "Go! Go! Go!"

Then the cab drove off with Sharpay in the backseat. She was glaring out the back window, watching as things faded out into the distance. She watched Gabriella with raised arms, yelling things at the taxi, and after little while letting her arms fall down in defeat, as Troy finally reached the sidewalk himself, looking rather sad. She watched as Gabriella pulled Troy in for comforting hug, and he sobbed into her shoulder.

The cab drove around the corner, and they were gone. Her best friend and her, what would now be called, ex-fiance were out of sight. Troy had looked genuinly upset, that he wasn't gonna marry Sharpay after all, and it made her feel bad, but it was better this way. She had made the right decision.

**-Y-D-C-**

She opened the envelope for what must have been the billionth time, still not coming closer to a decision, and the reunion was tonight. East High class of 2008, and it was their 10 year reunion. She hadn't seen any of her friends in 5 years, ever since she ran out on Troy's and her wedding, and she knew it was wrong of her to have cut them out of her life like that.

Sharpay was lying on her bed in her bedroom with the envelope in her hands. A billion and one times, she just couldn't make the decision. If she chose to go, she would have to face everybody, and she owed all of her old friends and explanation, especially Troy, to why she ran out on their wedding. She knew, that if she went and faced the music, they wouldn't understand her reason to run out on him, but she still believed, that she'd made the right decision. A man who didn't cry at the sight of his bride, he wasn't with the right woman, so she'd given both of them a chance to find the right person for them.

Her bedroom door creaked open, and with a fright Sharpay sat up straight, and then she saw a 4½ year old little girl with brown hair and eyes standing in the opening. Her little girl, Kaley Trace Evans, or simply just Kaley. She was a little mama's girl, and it was hard to be anything else, considering she had never known her father, it had always been the Kaley and Mom show.

Sharpay had a failed marriage on her shoulders already. The day she ran out on her wedding, she had this unbelievable pain inside of her, and she thought it would never go away, so she'd told herself 'to hell with it' and made the stupid decision, to ask the cab driver to drive to Las Vegas, where she got drunk and got married to a really attractive guy. As far as Sharpay remembered, he was a very tall guy with brown hair and green eyes, he'd been very attractive and on top of that, he'd been nice, but that didn't matter to Sharpay. She didn't know the guy, and she couldn't be married to someone she didn't know, and the guy felt the same way, so they both agreed to have it annulled. 3 months after her Vegas night, she discovered that she was pregnant.

She knew where Kaley's dad lived and all, she had looked him up, when she found out she was pregnant, but then she'd decided, that she didn't want to ask anything from him. That wouldn't be fair to him. But if she did change her mind, she would know where to find him; he was a doctor from Buffalo, named Nicholas Dean. If Kaley one day asked about her father, she would give her all the information she had, and then Kaley could decide what she wanted to do with it herself.

Kaley was all Sharpay really had now, and she loved her with all her being, she loved her little young daughter more, than she'd ever loved anyone in her entire life. It was amazing. It had been a cold december night, when Sharpay gave birth to her daughter, and it was an unbelievable pain. Sharpay had never screamed that much in her entire life, and when she was in labour she wanted the world to just end, she wanted to give up, but then it was all over, and the nurse handed little Kaley to her, and it made it all worth it, because she loved the little girl so much.

"Come here, love." Sharpay said, patting on an empty spot right next to her, and little Kaley ran into the room and jumped in the bed. She attacked her mother with a giant hug, lying on top of her. Sharpay screamed with laughter; "You're suffocating your own mommy!"

"Sorry, mommy." Kaley mumbled, and rolled off Sharpay, so she was sitting next to her, and then she snuggled up close to her. Sharpay put her one arm around Kaley, without taking her eyes of the envelope in her other hand, so Kaley noticed it. "What's that in your hand?"

Sharpay didn't wanna bring her daughter into it, but even though the tiny little girl was only 4½, she was still her mother's best friend, so she couldn't help herself. "It's a grown up thing, sweetie." Sharpay explained, stroking Kaley's arm with the one, she had around her. "It's like a party, that you go to and meet your old friends from school." Kaley took the envelope out of her mother's hand and studied it closer, before Sharpay could even object. "But mommy doesn't feel like going."

"Why not, mommy?" Kaley asked, looking from the envelope up to her mother, and then at the envelope again. Kaley was going through the curious, always asking questions stage of her life. "Don't you wanna see your old friends again?"

"Maybe.." Sharpay trailed off... After a few minutes, she noticed her daughter's worried eyes upon her, and decided she better speak up, or Kaley would think something was wrong. "But mommy doesn't think, that they wanna see me."

"Why not?" Kaley questioned yet again, the worry disappearing from her eyes, but she was still as curious as ever. "Why don't they wanna see you, mommy?"

Sharpay sighed, what to tell her? "Because mommy did something really bad, before you were born." Sharpay settled on the truth with left out details, because Kaley was only 4 years old, and first off she shouldn't be worried with things like that, and second she probably wouldn't understand it anyway.

"What did you do, mommy?" Kaley's eyes grew big, because she couldn't imagine her mom ever doing something bad. Her mom did everything right in her eyes, so she was very curious about it, but couldn't imagine it. As far as she was concerned, it had something to do with dollies.

"That doesn't matter, sweetie. But mommy has to tell them, why she did what she did, if she goes." Sharpay explained to her daughter, using her sweetest voice. She looked at her daughter with all the love in her eyes, that girl had really brought out the best in her, and she came closer to the decision of maybe going. She was still scared, though, of explaining things to everyone, especially Troy. "Anyway, mommy is afraid to go."

"Why?" Kaley questioned one last time, this time with confusion and surprise in her voice, all at the same time. It was totally weird to her, that her mom should be afraid of something. "Mommy, you're the bravest person I know."

And like that, Sharpay had decided to go. She was the bravest person, her daughter knew, and she was gonna live up to that by going. Sharpay Evans wasn't gonna be afraid of going and explaining things anymore, because she was brave. Kaley really did bring out the best in her.

Now all she had to do was to call Kaley's grandpa Evans and let him know, that she had decided to go to the reunion anyways, and that she needed for him to babysit. Then she needed to call Ryan and ask him, if he was up for giving him a ride. Ryan had been the only one, she'd had contact to out of all her friends, ever since she ran out on Troy, mainly because he was her brother, but also because he was the only one, who approved and had supported her, considering he thought they were too young to get married. Ryan was basically her only friend now, and the only one of the twins with a licence, so he was gonna have to drive.

Sharpay was going to her reunion tonight, all because of itsy bitsy Kaley Trace Evans.

**-Y-D-C-**

That night Sharpay entered the old East High Gym, her arms linked with her brother's. She felt anxious about that night, and not in a good way at all. She gave the room a lookover, hoping her eyes wouldn't land on anybody she knew or remembered, taking in the view of the Gym. It looked the same basically, although it was decorated with East High colours, there were balloons, festoons and all kind of other things in red, white and gold, and then there was the one thing, that made Sharpay feel welcome; a banner that read 'Welcome Back Wildcats!'. That made her feel at little at home, but then Ryan unlinked their arms and went to find some of his old friends to talk to, leaving her all alone and even more worried about what's to come.

She glanced through the room again and found an empty table, that she headed towards. She kept looking to her sides, while trying to reach her destination, and as far as she could see, none of the people from the old gang had arrived yet, and she felt good. She sat down on one of the chairs by the table, once she had reached, and placed her purse on the table. It was a small, white purse with a silver buckle and a silver chain, so that she could carry it on her shoulder. She hadn't felt like bringing a bigger purse, because all she had in it was her wallet, and that was a tiny purple one (incase anyone wanted to see pictures, when she told them about Kaley), and her cellphone, if something should happen with Kaley at home, then her dad could call her. That, and it was the only white purse, she had. It matched her outfit, her white knee-length dress, and her white heels with silver tulle on them. It wasn't something you saw everyday, but Sharpay was known to take those kind of risks.

Sharpay sat with her back towards the entrance, which probably wasn't the wisest decision, she had ever made, because then she wouldn't be able to see anyone coming. It wasn't long, either, before someone stood behind her, clearing their throat. She looked back over her shoulder, and she saw Gabriella standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her one foot. Sharpay acted like, she wasn't surprised at all and looked away from Gabriella again, she wasn't there for Gabriella, she was there for Troy, because she owed him an explanation.

Normally people would take, what Sharpay did as a 'go away', but Gabriella clearly didn't, because she sat down on a chair opposite to Sharpay's, throwing her yellow purse on the table next to Sharpay's. Gabriella had gotten herself a bang and shoulder length hair with lifts, that she had straightened for the night, and it looked pretty good on her, Sharpay had to admit. The latina was wearing a tight, black dress that went down to just bellow the knees, and had yellow accessories with her, such as belt, purse and shoes.

"Sharpay..." Gabriella slowly began, letting out a sigh. This was difficult for her, especially since she couldn't understand, why Sharpay felt they couldn't remain best friends, even though she had run out on Troy. She just didn't get it. "You gotta explain it to me, I gotta know why."

Sharpay looked her once best friend straight into the eyes. She had never once lied to the girl, she had never once neglected to tell her anything, and even though it was over 5 years since their last conversation, she wasn't gonna start now. "I freaked out, Gabby, as simple as that." Sharpay let off by saying, and it didn't lift any confusion of the latina, but the blonde wasn't done yet. "I thought, I had prepared myself for everything, that could possibly go wrong. Y'know the old wedding oopsies stereotypes. But I hadn't prepared myself for the one thing, that actually went wrong, the one thing that never crossed my mind, because I thought it was a given." Sharpay paused to let out a deep sigh, both of the girls never once removing the intense gaze from each other's eyes. "I walked down the aisle, and he stood there by the alter, all dry eyed. I had subconsciously expected him to cry with happiness, when he saw his bride walking down the aisle in her wedding dress, I had expected him to be so touched by emotions, that he would be in tears in sight of me. When I saw him standing there, and he wasn't crying, I freaked out and I just had to get the hell out of there. It might seem weird to someone, but I feel like I made the right decision."

"Are you telling me, you ran out, because Troy didn't cry?" Gabriella questioned, disbelief clear in both her voice and her eyes, but it was the truth, and Sharpay couldn't explain it any better, and she really hoped that Gabriella would understand. "Well, to me that doesn't make sense, but I'm glad you were honest with me." Sharpay felt relieved, but it was too soon, because Gabriella wasn't done. "There's something else, I don't get either." She revealed, making Sharpay a little confused. What else could there be? "I don't get, why you had to cut all contact, just because you chose not to marry Troy? I mean, I was your best friend for crying out loud, Shar. I would have been there for you no matter what, but you didn't give me any credit. I just wanna know why?"

"Because you would've been disappointed in me, for what I did that night." Sharpay yelled, the emotions beginning to get to her. Luckily nobody heard her, because the music was a little bit too loud for it. It was only her and Gabriella, who was a little stunned by Sharpay's outburst.

"What do you mean, I would've been disappointed?" Gabriella asked, being the only one to contain her voice from yelling, as one needed to be calm about this. But what could possibly disappoint her? "What could've been so horrible, that I would be disappointed in you? Real disappointment?"

"I went to Vegas, got drunk and got married, only to get it annulled the following day, and then discovering I was pregnant." Sharpay explained, still yelling. Gabriella could see, why Sharpay would think, she would've been disappointed, since she didn't believe in that sort of thing, but Sharpay should've trusted Gabriella enough to know, that the girl would've been there for her no matter what. The latina was really curious about that pregnancy, but didn't get a chance to ask about it. "In case you were wondering, yes I do have a child. A little girl named Kaley, she's 4½. You wanna see a picture?" Sharpay dug into a purse and fished out her wallet, finding a picture of little Kaley and handed it to Gabriella. "Here."

"She's beautiful." Gabriella said, as she took in all the little girl's features. She had her mother's beautiful, chocolate brown eyes, and what Gabriella guessed to be her father's hair colour. She had curly hair down to her elbows and a fringe. She had a cute little button nose, which girls that age often had, plus she had the cutest little lips and the longest lashes, Gabriella had ever seen. The girl was truly beautiful, it wasn't a lie, like she often did with people showed her pictures of their God ugly children, but Kaley really was beautiful. Gabriella handed the photo back to Sharpay, who put it back in her wallet, which came back into her purse again.

They sat in silence for awhile, untill Sharpay decided to break it. Seeing as it hadn't been that bad to face Gabriella again, they could at least catch up. "What about you, do you have kids? Are you married?"

"Yes to both." Gabriella replied with a giggle, when Sharpay almost jumped out of her chair in excitement to know. "I'm married to Zeke, 3 years now. We have two 2 year old twin boys, Miloh and Marco are their names." Then she did the same, as Sharpay had done before, and went into her purse and found some pictures of Miloh and Marco and handed them to Sharpay, who aw'ed at the sight. "First time, you've seen black latin babies?"

Sharpay chuckled at Gabriella's joke, as she looked at the pictures, and as she looked at them, a thought struck her. They were gonna be okay, her and Gabriella, it would take some time, but they were gonna be okay. She was sure, they were gonna be best friends again soon, and their kids could be friends. Sure, Kaley was a little older than Miloh and Marco, but in friendship age didn't matter. She handed the pictures back to Gabriella with a "You know, Kaley is gonna marry one of those two cutenesses one day."

Gabriella laughed, as the pictures returned to her purse again, but then she got serious. "Troy is here, y'know." Gabriella told Sharpay, but she had figured as much, she was really just awaiting his approach. "I think, you should talk to him, and explain all of this to him as well."

Sharpay nodded and said; "I know. It's one of the main reasons to why, I'm here." She paused, and then added one last thing, like the proud mama she was. "That, and Kaley things I'm the bravest person in the world."

"He's over at Zeke's and my table, do you want me to send him over?" She asked, grabbing her purse on the table, getting ready to return to her own table. Sharpay nodded, and Gabriella offered her a smile, as she got up from the chair. "I could explain things to him, if you want, too?"

"Thanks, but that won't be necessary." Sharpay said, shooting her latina friend a smile, so she knew the offer was appreciated. "I'm the bravest, remember?"

Gabriella bend down and gave Sharpay a hug with her one free arm, the blonde returned the favor, and then with a smile the latina was off to her own table, where Troy was at. That's when it hit her, she was gonna see Troy again, she was gonna explain things to him, and maybe she wasn't as brave, as her daughter believed she was, because right then and there all she wanted to do was escape. For Kaley's sake she didn't.

Her throat dried up, and she needed something to drink, but she didn't wanna leave the table. What if Troy came around, while she wasn't there then, or what if someone else snatched the table? She would have nowhere to sit, so she went against getting up to get something to drink. And really, she wasn't all that thirsty, she was mostly just nervous, because she knew Troy wouldn't be as understanding as Gabriella, and if he began to get upset, she wouldn't know what to do. Even though she had ran out on their wedding, and she still felt like she had made the right decision, she still loved him and didn't wanna hurt his feelings anymore, than she already had. It was too late for that, she knew it too well, but one could always hope.

Sharpay had never been known to be the most patient person in the world, and she was already going out of her mind with, what the hell was taking so long? She hadn't got all night or she had, but wasn't patient at all, she couldn't wait. She wanted to rip the bandage off right now and get over with, she didn't want enough time to pass, so she would get cold sweat on her forehead. She wasn't up for that, so where the hell was Troy? Wasn't he up for that explanation, he had longed for so long anyways? Had he chickened out?

A glass of water was placed on the table right in front of Sharpay, startled by sudden change in her environment she was ripped out of her thoughts. She looked at the plastic cup on the table, wondering how it got there, and then someone cleared their throat, making her look back up and see Troy sitting right in front of her, with a glass of something in his hand. He tried smiling at her, but it didn't work out, it just turned into something weak, something half-hearted. She tried to return the smile, but it didn't come across right, it felt just as weak and half-hearted as Troy's had been. There was definitely some tension between them.

None of them said anything, they just let an uncomfortable silence wash over them, but Sharpay tried to pretend, that she didn't notice it. If she admitted to herself, that she found the silence uncomfortable, she would have to come up with something to say, and she knew exactly what it was, she had to say then, she just had no idea how to put, so she chose to ignore the stupid silence. Troy seemed to follow her example, as he didn't say anything either, and he had always been one with words.

Troy let out a sigh, probably because of the situation, and all of the sudden Sharpay became aware of, how uncomfortable the silence had been. "I guess, we have some things to talk about." She said, just to say something. Of course they had some things to talk about, the 'I guess' hadn't needed to be added, but she said it anyways out of insecurity. Troy put his glass down on the table, and then he folded his hands and leaned back, like he had always done, whenever he paid full attention to something, and Sharpay fell under pressure. "You want an explanation, don't you?"

"That would be nice." Troy replied, it being the obvious answer. Why she even asked, he didn't know, and he didn't know, whether he should be angry with her from the start or not, but he was definitely not happy with her, and he was slightly disappointed as well. "You better make it really good, Pay, because we could have been married 5 years, we could have had kids, and you threw it all away, so it better be real good."

"Something tell me, you're not gonna like it." Sharpay mumbled, hoping that Troy wouldn't be able to hear it, but of course he did. He raised his brows and shot her one of those look, one of those 'care to elaborate' looks. So she spoke up with a more audible voice. "I just... I don't think, you're gonna understand it."

"Wow, Sharpay, well done. Thanks for giving me so much credit." Troy was being sarcastic, trying to cover up his feelings, but Sharpay could sense that he was really hurt, by what she had done back then, and he was even more hurt about how little she thought of him to that day. "Gabriella told me, that you came here to explain things to me, but if you're not going to do that, then what the hell are you doing here?"

"I think it has something to do with, that I used to attend this school, and I was part of the class of '08." Sharpay mocked him, and she knew it was uncalled for, but sometimes that mouth of hers had a life of its own, and sometimes it was just a weebit faster than her mind. So in a much nicer way, she added; "No, my daughter told me, I was the bravest person she knew, so I figured I could do this." He was about to open his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "And I'm gonna, don't be mistaken, it's just really hard. It wasn't that hard telling it the first time, but the second time is always much harder."

Troy wanted to take her into her arms and make her feel better, but at the same time he wanted her to go through this, he wanted it to be hard. She broke his heart, the day she ran out on him, he hadn't been with anyonel since her, she had after all been the love of his life. What she had done was wrong, and now she got her punishment in a way. He didn't say anything to make it easier for her, he just sat there and tried to look stern, and anticipated her explanation for her behavior on their wedding day. It was hard for him to keep quiet though, after the mention of Sharpay's daughter. So she had a daughter, did that mean she had been married? Was she still married or what was going with her, and did she had more than one kid? It hurt him to think about it, but he couldn't hurt more, than he already had these past 5 years.

"The thing is, Troy, that I..." Sharpay paused, she couldn't go on, she just couldn't. He wouldn't understand, she knew he wouldn't, and when she sat there right in front of him, about to explain everything to him, it all seemed childish, even though she felt like she had made the right decision back then. How could she tell the guy she once loved and probably still did, that she ruined their future together, all because he didn't shed one tear? She couldn't. "Nevermind, just forget it."

"No! What is it?" Troy exclaimed, he had to know, especially if had something to do with her current life, he somehow needed to know, if she was married today. It was weird, it even seemed more important than knowing, why their wedding went down the drain. "Are you trying to tell me, that you're married? That you have 3 kids? What?"

Sharpay shot him a smile, the first one in over 5 years. It was nice to know, that he cared about her still. "No, I'm not married. I haven't really dated much either, as in not at all, ever since.. y'know." She told him, and it brought a small smile on his face, but not a big one. He urged for her to go on, and so she did. "But I do have daughter, her name is Kaley and she's 4 years old."

"But how is that even possible?" Troy questioned, he was really confused about all of this. How could she have a kid, when she had told him, she was saving herself for marriage? Had she somehow changed what she was about, or what? Was she a totally different person now? She seemed the same; she looked, talked and acted like the girl he loved, so it didn't add up with her having a daughter.

"Troy, you gotta understand, I was wrecked over our situation back then, so I screwed up." She tried to explain, all the while thinking about, how stupid it sounded coming out her mouth, but it was a good start anyways. "I told the cab driver to drive me to Las Vegas, where I drank my sorrow away. I was extremely drunk, and I met this guy, who had gone a long way to celebrate, that he could finally call himself a doctor, and we hung out all night, and it ended with us being wed by guy dressed like Elvis Presley." She paused and looked at Troy. He was trying to cover up the fact, that it upset him hearing this, but she could clearly see he wasn't okay with hearing it, even though he needed to. "You can probably figure out what happened next. Then the morning after our drunken night, and we had sobered up, we agreed we couldn't stay married, because we were drunk, when it happened, and we really didn't know each other. So we got it annulled, and 3 months later I found out I was pregnant."

"You're right, you screwed up." Troy agreed with her, because going to Vegas and getting drunk just didn't sound like the Sharpay, he used to know, and he knew he didn't approve of anything like that either. Oddly enough he didn't blame her for anything, because he had been tempted to do the same thing, but unlike Sharpay he had his friends with him, who talked him out of it. It wasn't easy to her, but at least now they had one thing covered, and they were getting closer to that explanation of hers. "But we've got that out of the way now, and that's good. I just... the only thing I really need to know, Sharpay, is why you ran out on me?"

Sharpay sighed, she wasn't ready for it just yet. She had to drag out the time, she was really good at that, because she had no idea what to tell him. She had to say something, though, anything. "It's a long story, really." She tried saying, shrugging her shoulders, and she hoped it would be enough for him, even though she knew deep down, that it wasn't. "We just weren't meant to be. Basically."

"Is that all you're gonna give me, Sharpay?" Troy stood up from his chair and yelled, he couldn't cover up the anger he felt towards her anymore. "We were supposed to get married, you were supposed to be my damn wife, and all you're gonna give me is that 'we just weren't meant to be', and like that wasn't rough enough, you had to go ahead and add the basically. That's not how it works, Sharpay, I need more than just that."

Sharpay stood up as well, beginning to get angry too. "Don't use that tone with me, mr!" She shouted, the parent in coming through to play. She wanted to tell him, no matter how hard it was, she really did, it was just... "I wanna tell you more, I really do. Believe me. It's just, I don't think, you're gonna understand."

"How about giving me some credit?" Troy asked her, his voice still raised. He was a little torn, at one point he wanted her to feel bad, and he wanted it all to be hard for her, but at the other he wanted to lift some pressure off of her, and make it a little easier somehow, as long as he got his explanation, it wouldn't really matter. "You said, it was a long story, so how about giving me the short version?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them. "You didn't cry." Sharpay finally said, and Troy shot her a confused look. "I was supposed to be the love of your life, I was supposed to be your bride, yet when you saw me in my wedding dress for the first time, and I was walking down the aisle, you didn't shed one tear." She paused, and watched as Troy finally got her meaning, and then tears started to form in his eyes, but he blinked them away. "It's my philosophy, that if we were meant to be, you would have cried at the sight of me in my wedding dress, out of sheer love. But you didn't. You didn't cry."

Why did Troy have to try and act all macho, and then on his wedding day? He had been standing by the alter that day a little over 5 years ago, and when Sharpay stepped into the church, and he saw her in her beautiful princess gown for the first time, he had felt the tears pressing against his eyes, but he had fought them back. He had thought, that Sharpay wanted a strong and together man, not some emotional guy on their wedding day, but if he had only given into his urge to cry, he would have been her husband to day. Instead of crying, he had plastered a proud smile on his face, so she knew that he was proud to make her his wife, when she looked at him, because she thought it was the kind of man, she wanted on her wedding day, and then his second choice had been what had messed them up. Had he been able to foresee the future events following that day, he would have let the tears flow, he would have been that sensitive guy, he would have cried out of love, but sadly he couldn't change the past. All he could do was sit there and feel bad, that he didn't have her, that he didn't have the love of his life. He still considered her that, and he wished he could go back in time and change everything, he wished he could go back and let himself cry, but he knew Sharpay didn't feel the same way. She obviously didn't regret her choice, that and she had her daughter, and had she married Troy, she wouldn't have little Kaley. But God, he wanted Sharpay back, he wanted her back so bad.

"I was fighting back the tears that day." Troy let off by saying, and Sharpay all of the sudden got a different look on her face. It wasn't angry any more, it was kind of slightly surprised, and at the same time she had an expression, like she was really paying attention now. "Had I known, though, that you were expecting tears from me, I would have cried you a river."

She was touched by what he was saying, she hadn't known. "Troy, I had no idea." She said, placing her hands on her heart, to let him know that she was really moved by his words, but at the same time she still felt, that she had made the right decision back then. Why she had to be like that, she didn't know herself, especially now when Troy was standing right infront of her and saying these things, and he was looking better than ever, she just couldn't understand herself sometimes. She knew, that she had made a life changing decision, and she was standing by it, because it had been the right choice, and not even now with all these revelations would she have changed it, if she could have. She had Kaley, and had she gotten a chance to make a do over, she wouldn't have her daughter, if she had chosen to get married to Troy, she might have gotten other kids, but they wouldn't have been Kaley. That's why she had no regrets.

"Maybe we could try again?" Troy suggested, and he hoped with all his might, that she would say yes, but at the same time he knew it was a long shot. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, even with their past, because he still loved her, and he would love her daughter like his own, if she said yes. Little Kaley came from his one true love after all. Deep down he hoped she felt the same way, and she probably did, but he was still in for a bad let down.

"Troy.." Sharpay let off with a sigh, this was gonna be hard. She hated having to do this again, she hated having to reject him again, and this time she had to do it with words. It wasn't that she didn't wanna be with him, it was just that she couldn't make that decision right then and there, she needed weeks of thinking, plus she had Kaley to consider. Instead of telling him that, she tried to destroy all hope of Troypay in the future. "It's not that I don't love you, because I do. So, so much. It's just, the truth of the matter is, that I can't be with, because of what happened back then on our wedding day." She paused to bring in more courage, and Troy was about to open his mouth to object, but she cut him off. "I know what you told me before, and I feel really good about that. Really, I do, but it still doesn't change the fact, that you didn't cry, and I have to be totally honest with you, I don't think we're gonna happen. It's really not a decision, I can make right now, and no matter how much time I would have to think about, we're still not gonna happen."

She grabbed her purse from the table and swung the silver chain over her shoulder, tears were starting to form in her eyes, and she had to get out of there, before Troy got the chance to see her cry. If he did, he would pull her into his arms and hold her tight, untill she felt better and it would only make all of this even harder, there was no need for that. She saw that tears were starting to form in his eyes as well, but she didn't have time to care about that. She spun around and went for the exit.

Troy watched her leave, and it didn't take more than a minute, and then she was gone for good, all because he didn't cry. It didn't matter, though, that she had just turned him down a second time, he wasn't giving up on her. It didn't matter, how many times she played the 'you didn't cry' card, either, he still wasn't giving up on her. So she said she didn't want him now, but it didn't matter to him, because he knew Troypay was gonna happen no matter what, and at their next wedding day, he was definitely gonna cry.

**-Y-D-C-**

_Phew, what do you guys say now? This took forever to write, mostly because I've been lazy, but when I finally got my act together with this, it only took about 4 days, and I'm really proud of myself, because that's like the fastest I've even written. Anywho, let's get some things straight now._

_**Inspiration;**__ As some of you may know, I am a girl from Denmark, and we have a thing called a monarch, which basically means we have a queen instead of a president. Ok, so the thing is, that Prince Joachim, Queen Margrethe II's youngest son, recently got married to this woman, Princess Marie (used to be Marie Cavallier), from France (his second marriage, but that doesn't matter, even though divorce is frowned upon in the royal family). Ok, on with it. So they got married may 24th 2008 (which may give you a clue to how long this one-shot has been in the works), and it was a very moving ceremony. To my mom Prince Joachim has always seemed arrogant, but he wasn't at all that day, he was a very lovely man. When Princess Marie walked down the aisle, Jokke (that's our nickname for him) actually cried, and I was so touched by that, and that's when I got the inspiration for this. That, and I hadn't seen anything like it before, so I called it ;b._

_**Dedication;**__ I'm one who can't live without dedications, and this one I'm gonna dedicate to... the first person who reviews. Yeah, maybe that'll make you review. Reviewer #1, this is for you :)._

_**Special Thanks;**__ No, it's not the same as a dedication. Though, special thanks go out to Stessa, because I ran this idea by her more than once, and she was so kind and kept on couraging me to go on with it, so thanks Stessa. Another special thanks go out to my crazy fella, -BOOM xbethany., because I don't know if she remembers, but she was the very first person I mentioned this idea to, and she screamed bloody murder at the mention of Troypay. , because hello? Where am I posting this thing? So if you like this (please?), then give it up for all of them, because it's all their fault. ;b_

_Okay, so I'm really, really done now, and this is by far the longest one-shot I have ever writting, and it's also longer than any chapter, I have ever written too, but that's just more of the good stuff, if you like it. So thanks for reading this, and please don't forget to leave a review (hint; it's the little purple button in the corner, you need to press). Thank you :)_

_**Laters,**__ AK-tutti_


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